's
Net Zero by 2050 pathway.
Operational The world's first commercial floating offshore windfarm,
Hywind Scotland, was commissioned in 2017. It uses 5 Siemens turbines of 6 MW each, has a capacity of 30 MW and is sited off
Peterhead. The project also incorporates a 1 MWh lithium-ion battery system (called Batwind). In its first 5 years of operation it averaged a
capacity factor of 54%, sometimes in 10 meter waves. WindFloat Atlantic, sited 20 km off the coast of Viana do Castelo, Portugal, has a capacity of 25 MW and has operated since July 2020. It produced 78 GWh in 2022, with a technical
availability of 93%. The 48 MW Kincardine Offshore Wind Farm is the UK's second commercial floating offshore windfarm, and completed construction in August 2021, and became fully operational in October 2021. It is located 15 kilometres off the coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in water depths ranging from 60 metres to 80 metres. Two of the turbines have been towed to port for repairs, and returned. In August 2019,
Enova awarded
NOK2.3 billion to
Equinor for the NOK 8 billion Construction began in 2021, and turbines were assembled in 2022, sending first power to Gullfaks A in November 2022, and completed in August 2023. After the evaluation phase is complete in 2016, "Japan plans to build as many as 80 floating wind turbines off Fukushima by 2020." In 2011, some foreign companies had also planned to bid on the 1-GW large floating wind farm that Japan hoped to build by 2020. In March 2012,
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry approved a 12.5bn yen ($154m) project to float a 2-MW Fuji in March 2013 and two 7-MW Mitsubishi hydraulic "SeaAngel" later about 20–40 km offshore in 100–150 metres of water depth. The Japanese Wind Power Association claims a potential of 519 GW of floating offshore wind capacity in Japan. The four-post principle from Fukushima was certified for feasibility in 2020, and consortium was formed to mass produce the floating foundations. In 2018, NEDO announced two tenders to be launched aiming to support the development of both floating and fixed-bottom offshore wind projects in the country. The US State of
Maine solicited proposals in September 2010 to build a floating wind farm. The
Request For Proposal was seeking proposals for 25 MW of deep-water offshore wind capacity to supply power for 20-year long-term contract period in the
Gulf of Maine. Proposals were due by May 2011. In April 2012 Statoil received state regulatory approval to build a large four-unit demonstration wind farm off the coast of Maine. , the
Hywind 2 4-tower, 12–15 MW wind farm was being developed by Statoil North America for placement off the east coast of
Maine in -deep water of the
Atlantic Ocean. Like the first Hywind installation off Norway, the turbine foundation would be a
spar floater. The
State of Maine Public Utility Commission voted to approve the construction and fund the US$120 million project by adding approximately 75 cents/month to the average retail electricity consumer. Power could be flowing into the grid no earlier than 2016. As a result of legislation in 2013 by the
State of Maine,
Statoil placed the planned Hywind Maine floating wind turbine development project on hold in July 2013. The legislation required the
Maine Public Utilities Commission to undertake a second round of bidding for the offshore wind sites with a different set of ground rules, which subsequently led Statoil to suspend due to increased uncertainty and risk in the project. Statoil considered other locations for its initial US demonstration project. Some vendors who could bid on the proposed project in Maine expressed concerns in 2010 about dealing with the
United States regulatory environment. Since the proposed site is in federal waters, developers would need a permit from the US
Minerals Management Service, "which took more than seven years to approve a yet-to-be-built, shallow-water wind project off
Cape Cod" (
Cape Wind). "Uncertainty over regulatory hurdles in the United States … is 'the Achilles heel' for Maine's ambitions for deepwater wind." and focused on their five 6-MW turbines in Scotland instead, where the average wind speed is 10 m/s and the water depth is 100 m. In June 2016, Maine's New England Aqua Ventus I floating offshore wind demonstration project, designed by the DeepCwind Consortium, was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to participate in the Offshore Wind Advanced Technology Demonstration program. In August 2021, the project got approval to
use non-US barges. In January 2022,
Crown Estate Scotland, the public corporation of the
Scottish Government responsible for the management of land and property in Scotland, awarded 14.5 GW in 10 leases for floating wind farms, along with 10 GW of fixed-foundation. There were 74 applicants, and 17 winners. By April 2022, all 17 lease holders had signed up, and are required to pay £700m to the Scottish government. Floating wind power has so far been considered costly, but industry commentators described the program, ScotWind, as a commercial breakthrough. In December 2022, the US
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management awarded leases for 4.6 GW on 373,000 acres offshore California to 5 winners who are required to pay $750m. The price of $2,000/acre is less than East Coast leases, due to lower competition and higher build cost. As of 2023, Europe hosts four small floating wind farms with a combined capacity of 176 MW. Expansion plans are notable, with France tendering a 250 MW project off Brittany and two more in the
Mediterranean. Large-scale auctions are expected in Spain, Portugal, Norway, and the UK, which has already allocated rights for over 15 GW. Europe aims for 3–4 GW of floating wind capacity by 2030, potentially reaching 10 GW with supportive policies. ==Research==